Come Together
by Serena Crowe
Summary: Darry is trying his best to keep his brothers with him, but a series of bad luck is conspiring to make it almost impossible. Can their friends and Fate get them back on the right track before it's too late, or will he lose Ponyboy and Sodapop to the state


**A/N: **_This takes place in the spring after the events of the book happened. I welcome all reviews and any con crit is very much appreciated since I know my writing is mediocre at best._

**Disclaimer: SE Hinton owns the Outsiders, and I own the rest.**

**Chapter 1:**

Faint whoops of laughter followed by loud swearing pulled me from the book I was reading, and I raised my head to stare at the living room window in time to see my sixteen year old brother and his best buddy come pelting down the sidewalk in front of our house at top speed.

Before I could wonder too long about why they were running, both of them came bursting through the front door still cursing up a storm and covered from head to waist in what looked to be some kind of green slimy goop.

"Those two delinquents are gonna end up getting killed doing shit like that!" Steve growled darkly as he tried to swipe the slime out of his greased hair with his fingers before it could drip down into his eyes. "What the hell are they trying to prove?"

Sodapop appeared out of the bathroom where he'd gone as soon as he'd come inside, two towels in his hands. "That they can hit a moving target now?" he joked with a twinkle in his brown eyes. "Here." He tossed him one of the towels. "See if you can get that shit off before Darry comes home and sees us."

I just sat there watching them as they tried to wipe off the green goop without much luck and wondered what in the world they'd gotten into on their way here. Had it suddenly started raining slime while I'd been immersed in my book?

"Hey, Pony," Soda greeted me, peeking out from under the towel he was using to get the junk out of his hair. His brown eyes were sparkling with laughter and excitement in a way that let me know he'd actually enjoyed whatever they had been doing to get covered in that stuff. "You been here all day?"

Nodding, I shifted my gaze to where Steve was scrubbing at the green stains on his DX shirt with the towel. "What happened to you two? Is it raining swamp slime?"

"No," Steve snapped, looking up at me with angry blue eyes. "We got attacked by the Tornado Twins again." Slinging his towel toward Soda, he stalked back over to the open front door. "I'm gonna go home and take a damn shower, Pepsi. This shit ain't coming out without hot water."

I flinched as the screen door slammed shut behind him and turned back to my brother. "What is that stuff?"

"I don't know." Soda lifted the sleeve of his own work shirt and sniffed at it. "Smells like that stuff Darry cleans our cuts with, but I can't be sure since its green." He shrugged and grinned wider. "With those two it's hard to say what it is, but I definitely want it off me as quick as possible."

I stifled a giggle and ducked behind my book as he disappeared back down the hallway toward the bathroom. For some reason, my brother and Steve had caught the attention of the two boys that lived a few houses up from us and it was turning into an all out war between them.

As near as I could tell it had started about two weeks ago when Steve had hollered at Joey and Josh about hitting him with a football they had been tossing around when he come walking by their house. And Steve being Steve, he had gotten quite rude and colorful with them, which had pissed them off.

After that, Steve and Soda had found themselves being bombarded with water balloons and anything else the twins could manage to stuff into something and launch from the roof of their house every time they walked by.

I laughed softly and turned my attention back to my book as the sound of the shower cutting on came from the hallway. My brother hadn't seemed to be as upset and ill about the attack as Steve had been, but then Soda was easier going than his best friend and could take a joke better, too.

A low rumbling sound from outside the house made my heart skip a beat when I realized my oldest brother was home from work, and I didn't even have my homework started yet. Stuffing the bookmarker into my library book, I tossed it onto the table beside the couch and grabbed my History textbook from the floor at my feet, opening it to the spot I had marked in class.

Heavy footsteps crossed the porch and the screen door squeaked open as I pretended to be absorbed in the chapter on the Civil War.

"Hey, Pony," Darry's gruff voice said tiredly as he dropped his keys into the glass bowl near the door. "Sodapop home yet?"

"He's taking a shower." I kept my head bowed and peeked around the side of the book to watch him set his lunch box and tool belt down beside the bowl he'd dropped his keys into. "Hard day?"

"Very. At least it's not as cold now." He turned to face me with a light frown on his face. "You doing your homework?"

"Yeah." I sighed silently as he disappeared down the hallway, knowing that would be the extent of his conversation with me. It was the same one every day, and it didn't look like it was going to vary any time soon.

Turning my attention to the textbook, I pulled my legs up under me on the couch and stared at the page without really seeing any of the words on it. Ever since we'd lost Johnny and Dally last fall, Darry and I had come to a sort of truce between us, but it hadn't gotten any better as far as our brotherly relationship was concerned.

All of our talks seemed to revolve around my homework, the track team, and his day at work. Neither of us seemed to be able to discuss anything else about our lives with the other beyond the basic pleasantries, and I couldn't figure out why.

"Did I hear Darry in here?" Sodapop was towel drying his hair as he entered the living room dressed in an old pair of jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt minus the green goop. Dropping the towel, he eyed my History book with a twinkle in his eyes. "Guess so, eh?"

I grinned back at him and nodded. "I think he's in the kitch---" I trailed off as my eyes moved to his hair and settled on the streaks of light green in it, laughter erupting from me before I could stop myself. "Glory, Soda! You better go wash your hair again! I don't think you got all the slime out!"

He rolled his eyes at me and flopped down on the other end of the couch. "Sure, Pony. Whatever you say." Pulling his feet up onto the couch, he started yanking his socks on. "I washed it until the water ran clear so don't even try that crap with me."

"Good Lord above, Sodapop! What the hell did you do to your hair?" Darry was frozen in the living room doorway, his incredulous gaze on our brother's green streaked hair. "You look like someone slapped you upside the head with a leprechaun!"

Soda stopped with his sock halfway on to look back up at me. "No way." When I shrugged in an _I told you so_ way, he yanked the sock the rest of the way on and jumped to his feet. "I'm going to kill those little hoodlums," he muttered as he shoved past Darry and disappeared back down the hallway. "Strangle them with my bare hands!"

Darry lifted one eyebrow at me questioningly. "Why'd he dye his hair?"

I flinched as a loud string of swearing came from the bathroom. "He didn't. Him and Steve got bombarded by the Tornado Twins."

"Again?" Darry's lips twitched slightly, but he hid it quickly as our brother came stomping back into the living room, his face as dark as a thunder storm. "What'd they use this time, Pepsi?"

"Damned if I know," Soda growled as he knelt down to yank his shoes out from under the couch. "It was green and slimy whatever it was, and it don't wash out."

"At least Steve has dark hair," I said as I tried to keep a straight face. It was harder than it sounded since I couldn't seem to take my eyes off the grass green streaks in my brother's hair for nothing no matter how hard I tried. "It won't show as bad on him."

"You're enjoying this, ain't you?" he asked in an angry tone as he tied his shoes. "Maybe I should sick those little tyrants on you and let you see what it feels like."

"Soda…." Darry covered his face with his hands, and I knew he was trying hard not to laugh himself. "They're just kids. I'm sure they didn't know it would stain your hair like that."

"They knew it," Soda retorted, getting to his feet. "And they're a year older than Pony, Darry, so they should know better than to do shit like that."

Darry's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Soda stalking toward the front door. "Where are you going? Supper will be ready in a little bit."

"I'm going to go strangle those little assholes," Soda answered simply, shoving the screen door open with the palm of his hand. "And then I'm going to toss them off that damn roof head first."

My book slid from my lap to hit the floor with a thud as the screen door slammed shut behind him. I'd never seen Sodapop this mad before about a prank, and it was a little unsettling. "Should we go after him, Dar?"

"Would it do any good if we did?" He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Those boys know how to run, and if they have any sense that's what they'll do."

I leaned over to pick my book back up as he dropped down in the recliner. "Something wrong, Darry?" I asked softly, noticing for the first time how tense he was. "Everything okay at work?"

He was silent a few moments before sighing. "I may as well tell you, Pony," he said quietly, turning to stare at me with resigned blue eyes. "You'll find out soon enough anyway."

"Find out what?" My whole body flashed cold at the tone of his voice. The last time I'd heard him speaking like this was when he had to tell Soda and me that Mom and Dad were not coming home from the store. "What happened, Darry?"

He rubbed his face with his hands before dropping his gaze from mine. "I got laid off today, Pony. Something to do with a few of our contracts getting cancelled."

I felt like I was going to pass out. If Darry lost his job there was no way we could make the bills, and that would give the state every reason to come in and take Soda and me away from him.

_This is not happening, _I insisted to myself as my book hit the floor once again. _I will not be separated from my brothers._

**Thank you for reading and reviewing.**


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